Career and Education Opportunities for Customer Care Specialists in Rancho Cucamonga, California

If you want to be a customer care specialist, the Rancho Cucamonga, California area offers many opportunities both for education and employment. There are currently 201,200 jobs for customer care specialists in California and this is projected to grow by 28% to 256,800 jobs by 2016. This is better than the nation as a whole, where employment opportunities for customer care specialists are expected to grow by about 17.7%. Customer care specialists generally interact with customers to provide information in response to inquiries about products and services and to handle and resolve complaints.

Customer care specialists earn approximately $16 hourly or $34,000 per year on average in California. Nationally they average about $14 per hour or $29,860 annually. Compared with people working in the overall category of Human Resources and Customer Service, people working as customer care specialists in California earn less. They earn less than people working in the overall category of Human Resources and Customer Service nationally.

There is one school within twenty-five miles of Rancho Cucamonga where you can study to be a customer care specialist, among twenty-seven schools of higher education total in the Rancho Cucamonga area. The most common level of education for customer care specialists is a high school diploma or GED. It will take only a short time to learn to be a customer care specialist if you already have a high school diploma.

CAREER DESCRIPTION: Customer Care Specialist

Customer Care Specialist video from the State of New Jersey Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development

In general, customer care specialists interact with customers to provide information in response to inquiries about products and services and to handle and resolve complaints.

Customer care specialists talk with customers by telephone or in person to furnish data related to products and services, to take or enter orders, cancel accounts, or to obtain specifics of complaints. They also check to insure that appropriate changes were made to deal with customers' problems. Equally important, customer care specialists have to keep archives of customer interactions and transactions, recording specifics of inquiries and comments, as well as actions taken. Finally, customer care specialists refer unresolved customer grievances to designated departments for further investigation.

Every day, customer care specialists are expected to be able to listen to and understand others in meetings. They need to speak clearly. It is also important that they articulate ideas and problems.

It is important for customer care specialists to decide on charges for services requested, collect deposits or payments, or manage billing. They are often called upon to resolve customers' service or billing complaints by performing activities such as exchanging products and adjusting bills. They also contact customers to respond to inquiries or to notify them of claim investigation results and any planned adjustments. They are sometimes expected to complete contract forms, ready change of address archives, and issue service discontinuance orders, using computers. Somewhat less frequently, customer care specialists are also expected to keep archives of customer interactions and transactions, recording specifics of inquiries and comments, as well as actions taken.

and obtain and examine all relevant data to gauge validity of complaints and to establish possible causes. And finally, they sometimes have to talk with customers by telephone or in person to furnish data related to products and services, to take or enter orders, cancel accounts, or to obtain specifics of complaints.

Like many other jobs, customer care specialists must be thorough and dependable and be reliable.

Similar jobs with educational opportunities in Rancho Cucamonga include:

Accounts Receivable Specialist. Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visit to solicit payment. Duties include receiving payment and posting amount to customer's account; preparing statements to credit department if customer fails to respond; initiating repossession proceedings or service disconnection; keeping records of collection and status of accounts.

Credit Investigator. Investigate history and credit standing of individuals or business establishments applying for credit. Telephone or write to credit departments of business and service establishments to obtain information about applicant's credit standing.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Customer Care Specialist Training

Barstow Community College - Barstow, CA

Barstow Community College, 2700 Barstow Road, Barstow, CA 92311. Barstow Community College is a small college located in Barstow, California. It is a public school with primarily 2-year programs and has 2,318 students. Barstow Community College has a two to four year program in Customer Service Support/Call Center/Teleservice Operation.

CERTIFICATIONS

Certified Customer Service Specialist:
An individual who successfully passes ETA's World Class CSS Certification exam is professionally recognized as having the ability to uphold the interpersonal and business standards necessary in today's workplace.

Desktop Support Technician:
The HDI Desktop Support Technician certification is designed specifically for IT support professionals who spend much of their day visiting customers at their workstations or home office.

Knowledge Management Foundations: KCS Principles:
This certification will help you adopt a Knowledge-Centered Support (KCSSM) strategy that will shift your support center from a call-centric model to a knowledge-oriented model.

Certified Customer Service Representative:
Applicable to financial services professionals who have completed the AIB Customer Service Representative Certificate and who function as customer service representatives.

National Professional Certification in Customer Service:
National Professional Certification in Customer Service® is an industry credential that facilitates career mobility for employees, applicants, and students; adds value to education and training programs; and helps employers identify the qualified professionals.

National Professional Certification in Sales:
The Certification was designed to capture the core Sales duties for a broad range of entry-level through first-line supervisory positions across the sales and service industries.

LOCATION INFORMATION: Rancho Cucamonga, California

Rancho Cucamonga, California photo by Sfan00_IMG

Rancho Cucamonga is situated in San Bernardino County, California. It has a population of over 171,176, which has grown by 34.0% in the past ten years. The cost of living index in Rancho Cucamonga, 128, is far greater than the national average. New single-family homes in Rancho Cucamonga are valued at $207,800 on average, which is far less than the state average. In 2008, one hundred fifty-nine new homes were built in Rancho Cucamonga, down from five hundred eighty-three the previous year.

The top three industries for women in Rancho Cucamonga are educational services, health care, and finance and insurance. For men, it is construction, public administration, and educational services. The average commute to work is about 32 minutes. More than 23.3% of Rancho Cucamonga residents have a bachelor's degree, which is lower than the state average. The percentage of residents with a graduate degree, 7.3%, is lower than the state average.

The unemployment rate in Rancho Cucamonga is 9.2%, which is less than California's average of 12.3%.

The percentage of Rancho Cucamonga residents that are affiliated with a religious congregation, 42.0%, is less than both the national and state average. Alta Loma Christian Church, Grace Fellowship Church and The Lords House are all churches located in Rancho Cucamonga. The largest religious groups are the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention and the LDS (Mormon) Church.

Rancho Cucamonga is home to the Etiwanda Fire Station and the John Rains House as well as Victoria Groves Park and Hermosa Park. Shopping malls in the area include Alta Loma Plaza Shopping Center, Alta Loma Square Shopping Center and AltaLoma Country Village Shopping Center.